Matt Kemp

The party is most definitely on in Chavez Ravine. New Dodgers first baseman Adrian Gonzalez strutted to the plate to a rousing standing ovation in his first at-bat Saturday night at Dodger Stadium and connected for a three-run homer on the second pitch he saw from Marlins starter Josh Johnson. The Dodgers lead 4-1 at…

Matt Kemp was nice enough to pass along the lineup card for tonight’s game between the Marlins and Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. The newly-acquired Adrian Gonzalez is indeed in the starting lineup and will bat cleanup against right-hander Josh Johnson. And to think, just two months ago the Dodgers were using Juan Rivera in the…

If FOXSports.com’s Jon Morosi is correct, the Red Sox and Dodgers have agreed to the following nine-player deal: To L.A.: Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, Nick Punto To Boston: Rubby De La Rosa, Allen Webster, Jerry Sands, Ivan De Jesus, James Loney It’s not official yet, as the Red Sox still need Crawford and…

It’s no shame to go hitless against Madison Bumgarner on a night like he had last night. And slumps certainly happen. But Matt Kemp is in a pronounced slump right now, and with the Dodgers sliding out of first place after last night’s loss to San Francisco, they need him to figure it out. Kemp…

According to Steve Dilbeck of the Los Angeles Times, Dodgers manager Don Mattingly has been suspended two games by MLB for arguing with umpires during Thursday’s game against the Pirates. Bench coach Trey Hillman will manage the final two games of the team’s weekend series against the Braves. Thursday’s incident started after Matt Kemp was…

Braves 6, Padres 0: Chipper Jones with two mammo yicketties on Chipper Jones bobblehead night. One of his homers was his 2,700th career hit. Say what you want about the guy, but he has always had a flair for the dramatic and has always risen to the occasion. Even kinda lame occasions like bobblehead nights.…

Matt Kemp may soon get a couple of involuntary days off and may find his wallet lighter. Because in today’s Dodgers-Pirates game he (a) started arguing balls and strikes with the ump; (b) was ejected; and (c) apparently bumped the ump a bit during the confrontation. Don Mattingly came out of the dugout when the Kemp-ump…

I know I mention this a couple of times a year and I know it makes me sound like a big freakin’ crank, but I’ll say it again anyway: most inside the park homers are lame. Case in point: Eric Young had one last night in the Rockies-Dodgers game. Video here. The picture to the…

Marlins 13, Mets 0: Well, that one got out of hand. Chris Young was beaten like a red headed stepchild (can we still say that?), allowing two homers and four RBI to Giancarlo Stanton and a mess of runs to everyone else. Jose Reyes extends his hitting streak to 26 games. Giants 15, Cardinals 0:…

The Dodgers remade their lineup Wednesday to fit in new arrival Shane Victorino, but it led to just two hits — one off the bat of starter Stephen Fife — as the Diamondbacks won 4-0 to complete a three-game sweep in Los Angeles. Manager Don Mattingly, too often limited to one or two quality hitters…

For the past week rumors have been swirling about the Phillies offering up Shane Victorino for bullpen help. They were reportedly turned down by the Reds for Logan Ondrusek, but today they found a taker and sent Victorino to the Dodgers for reliever Josh Lindblom, pitching prospect Ethan Martin, and a player to be named…

The suspicion was that Hanley Ramirez would play shortstop in Los Angeles with Dee Gordon on the disabled list, but he is starting at third tonight against the Cardinals in his Dodger debut. His spot in the lineup is as predicted; he’s batting fifth behind Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier for now. Ramirez hasn’t had…

The Phillies signed Cole Hamels. The Dodgers traded for Hanley Ramirez and may still yet snag Ryan Dempster. But Ken Rosenthal says that they may hook up for some more deadline dealing: Source: #Dodgers deal for Victorino or Pence possible even if team gets Dempster along with H. Ramirez. LA has been in talks with…

The Dodgers are flush with cash and aren’t afraid to use it. As first reported by Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, they acquired third baseman Hanley Ramirez and left-hander Randy Choate from the Marlins late Tuesday night in return for right-handers Nathan Eovaldi and Scott McGough. It’s a modest price to play for a guy…

Johan Santana‘s struggles continued tonight against the Dodgers, as he was chased after being knocked around for six runs over just three innings. It matched the second-shortest start of his career. Santana gave up seven hits in all, including a two-run homer to Matt Kemp in the first inning and a two-run homer to Luis Cruz…

Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier were back in the Dodgers’ starting lineup last night, but it was Mark Ellis who played hero. Ellis, who recently returned after missing six weeks due to emergency surgery on his leg, delivered a go-ahead two-run homer off Clayton Richard in the bottom of the sixth inning as part of…

The Dodgers’ offense just got a major boost, as both Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier have been activated from the disabled list and are batting third and fourth respectively tonight against the Padres. Kemp has been sidelined since aggravating his left hamstring strain on May 30. While he made it back from the initial injury…

We made it, you guys. Another Home Run Derby is in the rear view mirror, as Prince Fielder defeated Jose Bautista in the finals tonight to take home this year’s crown. It was Fielder’s second Home Run Derby win, the other coming back in 2009 in St. Louis. Ken Griffey, Jr., who won in 1994, 1998 and…

Well, of course he does. He’s Jose Canseco, after all. Unfortunately, Canseco, who turned 48 a week ago, wasn’t invited to the festivities by either Matt Kemp or Robinson Cano. Surely only because he wasn’t eligible to be invited, by virtue of his being out of the league for 11 years now. Still, I’d be…

With Kansas City’s Kauffman Stadium serving as the battleground, Monday’s Home Run Derby figured to yield fewer souveniers than usual. Kauffman is one of the game’s tough home run parks. Using Stats Inc. park factors, only Minnesota’s Target Field played tougher on home runs for AL parks from 2009-11 and that only slightly. It’s played…

Andrew McCutchen is going up against the big boys. The Pirates center fielder, who is listed at 5-foot-10 and 175 pounds, was named as Giancarlo Stanton‘s replacement in Monday’s Home Run Derby. McCutchen is tied for sixth in the National League with 16 homers this season, putting him on pace to smash his previous high…

Ian Desmond is 2-for-2 with a home run today, but the league has announced that he’ll sit out the All-Star Game and be replaced by Braves center fielder Michael Bourn. Desmond, who leads all shortstops with 16 home runs this season, has been nursing a strained left oblique for three weeks and decided the rest…

Matt Kemp played his third minor-league rehab game yesterday, going 1-for-4 and logging seven innings defensively in center field. Kemp is now 5-for-11 (.455) with a double at Single-A and his hamstring feels good enough that he’s still planning to participate in the Home Run Derby despite being ruled out of the All-Star game. Barring…